


all kinds of magic

by ignitesthestars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, F/M, First Kiss, Kissing, Meet the Family, Romance, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 18:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15847074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ignitesthestars/pseuds/ignitesthestars
Summary: “So tell me, how’s a kid like my little brother here go from cargo class at the Garrison to being a saviour of the galaxy?”Lance’s older brother Marco is a perfectly lovely man, a thought that Allura has had since he decided against a handshake (the customary greeting on this part of Earth, she has learnt) and went straight in for a hug. The rest of Lance’s family had fallen in around them, and Allura had been quite enjoying the company until the nature of Marco’s question prompts her to lose her mind.





	all kinds of magic

“So tell me, how’s a kid like my little brother here go from cargo class at the Garrison to being a saviour of the galaxy?”

Lance’s older brother Marco is a perfectly lovely man, a thought that Allura has had since he decided against a handshake (the customary greeting on this part of Earth, she has learnt) and went straight in for a hug. The rest of Lance’s family had fallen in around them, and Allura had been quite enjoying the company until the nature of Marco’s question prompts her to lose her mind.

Maybe if she hadn’t been looking at Lance at the time, her reaction would have been different. He’s balancing his niece and nephew on his shoulders, but she still catches the split second where those shoulders drop, bowed under the weight of of more than a couple of toddlers. Something in Allura’s chest aches, and she scowls at Marco before she realises what her face is doing, replying quite hotly:

“I imagine it had something to do with believing that he could. Lance has _always_ had heroism in him, from the very moment I met him.”

Silence abruptly descends on the room, extremely noticeable because of how many people are in it, and broken only by Lance’s _oh - crap_ as he nearly gets whiplash from how fast he turns to stare at her, overbalancing in the process and nearly losing his hold on his small relatives. 

Allura reacts on instinct to steady the whole situation, swiping the nephew from the air with one arm, and steadying Lance at the hip with her other. Lance grins at her, flushed, and she can’t help but break her own bad mood to smile back, the reason for her sudden ire abruptly forgotten.

Marco laughs and Luis claps her on the shoulder and Veronica mutters something to Lance that turns his colour form pleasantly pink to a rather dangerous looking red.

“It takes a special woman to see the truth under all that bluster,” Luis announces, wiping away Allura’s anxiety at having been rude before it really has a chance to manifest.

Still, she ducks her head, coughing delicately even as she rearranges the nephew on her hip (she’s not a _natural_ , but it’s certainly easy to manage one Earth child after dealing with a rapidly de-aging Coran).

“I’m sorry, I probably didn’t need to be quite so vehement. It’s simply...important to me that people know how very brave he is. That he knows.” 

She glances back over her shoulder at Lance because she can’t seem to help herself these days. He’s flapping his free hand at Veronica in what appears to be some ritual slap combat, because the normally even-keeled Veronica is responding in kind, their niece clinging happily to locks of Lance’s hair and shrieking with delight as the fight rages on.

“Well,” she amends, giggling, “when the occasion calls for it, at least.”

“Ah, there’s no need to apologise.” Marco waves his hand. “My wife punched Luis the first time she met him, this is going well.”

“And he deserved it, too!” Marco’s wife shouts, breaking off a conversation with two other women, one of whom Allura knows is Lance’s mother.

The older woman is lovely, the corners of her mouth creased with the memory of a lifetime spent laughing. Her eyes are the same dark blue as her youngest son’s, and though her expression is neutral as she surveys Allura, Allura only has to look at the chaotic, loving family milling around her to feel her warmth. It threads through every person in the room, tying them all together. Lance’s father wanders over, rightfully stealing her attention with a kiss to her cheek and a murmured comment.

It makes Allura’s heart hurt for what she’s lost. And she’s so, so unbelievably grateful to have been able to return Lance to it.

“Lance’s girlfriend has elf ears,” the child in her arms announces.

“Allura is not my girlfriend!” Lance howls. All the blood in his body appears to have diverted to his face, and he’s steadily avoiding her gaze. “This was a mistake. You’re _all_ mistakes - wait, nonono not you, not you!”

He hastily gathers his niece into a hug as her entire face starts to wobble, fat tears welling in her eyes. 

“I’ve missed this,” Veronica sighs happily. “No one sticks their foot in their mouth like my baby brother.”

Behind his niece’s back, Lance gives her what Allura _knows_ is a rude gesture. And she should probably back him up in some form, assure the rest of his family that they truly are just friends, but his loud rejection has caused her stomach to lurch in a way that somehow stops the words from coming out.

Not because she thinks Lance doesn’t care for her. His attraction has been obvious since they first met, and the...seriousness of his feelings has only been made clearer in their time together. Plus, there’s the information she gained from the mice, which Lance has don’t absolutely nothing to contradict ever since she found out.

No, it’s because she’s made such _poor_ decisions about romance in her life so far. Or maybe just one, but quiznak, what a mistake to make. Obviously Lance isn’t a genocidal maniac, but he is her friend. And if her judgement had led her down such a dangerous romantic path before, didn’t it stand to reason that any urge to follow her feelings now could be just as dangerous?

To her friendship with Lance. To Voltron. 

To her own heart.

“Hey.” The child on her hip tugs at her ear, and Allura is abruptly reminded to ask Pidge what an ‘elf’ is. “Lura. If you’re an elf, can you do magic?”

She blinks, and then smiles softly. “Can you keep a secret?”

“‘Course!”

“ _Absolutely_.” 

Everyone is mostly distracted by the chaos in the room, and while she’d been a point of interest in the first hour as everyone peppered her with questions, it’s rather lovely to note that she’s apparently become just one more person in the hoard. It’s the work of a couple of seconds to draw on her own quintessence, wriggling her fingers so they glow. 

His eyes widen in open-mouthed wonder; she winks at him before pressing one finger to her lips, letting the glow fades. He nods seriously, drawing a hand across his mouth in a gesture she doesn’t _quite_ get, but understands from context means he won’t tell anyone.

Not that it matters, of course, her alchemic abilities aren’t exactly a state secret, but the wonder in the child’s eyes is more than worth the pretense.

“Look at you.” Veronica has abandoned tormenting her brother (who is currently covered in three more shrieking children, none of whom are _quite_ as loud as he is). “A couple of hours and you fit right into all this chaos.”

“I don’t know that I could take credit for any of that. Your family is wonderful, Veronica.” 

“God, don’t let them hear you say that. You didn’t think an ego like Lance’s came out of the blue, did you? We’ll never hear the end of it.”

It startles a laugh out of her, delighted. She becomes aware that the nephew in her possession is wriggling a bit, jealous of his siblings and cousins currently conquering Lance Mountain; she sets him on the ground and gets a blinding grin from him before he runs after the others. 

“It’s nice,” Allura admits. “I’ve grown used to a certain amount of organised chaos ever since waking up. It all feels...very familiar.”

“I’m glad. Lance mentioned some of what you’ve been through - not gossip, obviously, just talking about what had happened while he was gone.” Veronica doesn’t hug her, but she has a look on her face that says she would very much like to. “I can only imagine how difficult it’s been for you. And I know everyone’s making jokes about you and Lance, but it’s really just years of worry coming out as teasing. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll tell them to dial it back. No matter what’s going on with you and the kid, you saved him. You helped bring him back to us. You’ll always have a place here.”

“I - oh.” That’s rather a lot to take in at once, and Allura eventually settles on just pulling Veronica into the hug the other woman had been so polite about avoiding. “Thank you. That’s - thank you.”

 _That’s everything_ , she thinks. She had been so alone after waking, and then she had lost even the shadow of her father. The knowledge that her people are alive out there somewhere had given her some hope but--

Family, she is learning, doesn’t have to mean Altea. Family to her these days is messy and loud and half a dozen different species tied together by love. It doesn’t look like anything she’d even dreamed of, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything.

“Ugh.” Veronica sniffs, scrunching her face as they part. “Now you’ve got me doing it too. Honestly, if this room gets any more feelings in it, it’s going to flood.”

“I’ve experienced worse floods,” Allura assures her. “Let me tell about the great Food Goo Disaster.”

She does not request that Veronica get her family to dial back the teasing. She suspects she rather likes it.

*

It’s late when Lance manages to extricate himself from the tender and merciless embrace of his extended family, and Allura can only described herself as pleasantly exhausted. They leave to a chorus of _come back soon!_ and she smiles so widely she thinks her face might split open.

Lance, for once, is quiet as they wander through the Garrison grounds. Close but not quite touching. Allura thinks it would be quite easy to rest her head on his shoulder and so she does. They’d nearly died together. She thinks they can probably handle a simple intimacy.

His whole body startles, prompted a quirk of a smile from her. But there’s no yelping, no flailing - not that she would have minded if there was, but after being surrounded by so much energy all day, the moment seems to require something softer. Hesitantly, he raises his arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her in.

He clears his throat. “‘I’d apologise for - all of that. But you didn’t seem to mind?”

“I didn’t,” she confirms. “I had a good time. And - Lance. I can’t say how important it is to me to know that you have a family that loves you so much. And how terribly sorry I am to have taken you from them for so long.”

He stops walking. She can just make out the frown lines marring his expression, the light of Earth’s moon casting a pale glow over the evening. He really is lovely, although she prefers him laughing.

“Allura. You didn’t take me from anything.”

“Mm, I do seem to remember rather forcefully insisting you were all Paladins who had to save the entire universe. It wasn’t that long ago for any of us.”

“Yeah, and you were _right_. Do you--” He ducks his head, which has the side effect of bringing it much closer to hers. They both seem to notice at the same time, both seem to blush at the same rate, but neither of them move away. His arm is still around her. “Before everything, I was just a kid with dreams I was probably never going to be able to fulfill. You heard Marco. I wasn’t cargo class for no reason, you know? I missed my family and I was so, so worried for them, but if you think I regret anything about becoming a Paladin, about _meeting you_ \- you’re crazy. And I know you’re not crazy.”

Allura blows out a shaky breath, nodding. The thing is, she knows all of this. She’s watched Lance grow from an insecure kid into a man who - still has all his absurdities, is loud and abrasive and obnoxious at times, and who walks in his own skin like someone who is confident in everything he has chosen to become. 

“I might be about to do something crazy,” she warns, settling her hands at his hips. She likes the way his eyes widen at the contact, a stutter of want and uncertainty ruining anything he might have wanted to say.

There’s no guile here. Nothing except the two of them and their feelings, and what they might build with that kind of foundation. After so much uncertainty and danger, it’s suddenly the easiest thing in this world, in any world, to lean up and kiss him.

His lips part like he hadn’t really thought she’d do it; she eases her lips over his, soft but not at all tentative. It takes an entire second for the various gears in Lance’s brain to start working again - Allura imagines she hears them grind to a halt, and just as shakily start up again as his arm pulls tight around her shoulders, the other curling around her hips.

“This isn’t crazy,” he mumbles against her mouth, because even now Lance is incapable of shutting up and Allura laughs, and kisses him, and laughs again.

He’s right, she thinks dizzily as he bends her back into an absurd dip, warmth coiling in her gut and spreading through her. This is, for this brief moment belonging only to the two of them, the most sensible thing she’s ever done.


End file.
